Aston to shift Rapide production

Aston Martin will shift production of its Rapide sports saloon from Austria to its Gaydon headquarters in 2012.

Magna Steyr has built the four-door Rapide at a dedicated facility since late 2009, but work is now already underway at Gaydon to allow Rapide production to commence there in the second half of 2012.

Aston boss Ulrich Bez said: “In 2008 we had facility restrictions at Gaydon which indicated that production of Rapide at Gaydon would likely compromise production of our other cars. We were not prepared to do this.

“Now, three years on things are very different – Gaydon is more established, more flexible and more efficient.

“While our overall volume has not changed significantly, we now produce a far richer model mix – eight model lines (plus five variants) compared to three model lines (plus two variants) in 2008 – so Rapide production is now possible,” he added.

Aston says the working relationship with Magna had been “very positive”, with Bez adding that Magna’s work had “met all our requirements and expectations”.